1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process and a device for preparing an asphalt mix.
2. Description of the Related Art
European patent EP 0,455,553 A discloses reinforcing asphalt with fibers for the coating of inert materials such as mineral pieces of various grain sizes, especially for road coatings.
The asphalts are used, among others things, for coating surfaces to make them fluid tight as in the case of flat roofs or vertical walls or for roads. Asphalts are almost never used in their pure state to form a water-permeable layer of a road since their performance at low and high temperatures is inadequate, so that they would provide fragile and brittle coatings in freezing weather and would become fluid under the effect of heat.
To improve the behavior of asphalts and especially asphalt mixes, and thus to broaden the range of temperatures where they can be used, various substances are added to the asphalts, such as fibers whose introduction is ordinarily performed in a batch manner.
Thus, European patent EP 0,055,233 B discloses a batch technique to prepare several tons of mixes by mixing inert materials such as gravel at a given temperature with the asphalt charged with mineral fibers at another precise temperature.
This technique is suitable only for the preparation of small quantities. Furthermore the precision that it requires in weighing and in controlling temperatures makes using it difficult. Furthermore, no device for using the technique is known.